We've Never Stopped Thinking About Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain died 20 years ago today. It's hardly news. You've probably already seen plenty of tributes to his career and what might have been, along with, perhaps, a criticism of the impulse to memorialize his death simply because it's been a round number of years since the event.

We tend to agree with that line of thinking, mostly because Nirvana has never gone away, not for a day of those 20 years. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is as old today as "Let It Be" was when Nirvana made its era-defining song. I hear "All Apologies" nearly every time I put the radio on scan. Nirvana is classic rock — not so much in our rear view mirror as comfortingly, reassuringly present (which, for those of us old enough to remember the band, is its own weird thing).

It's natural to want to spend time with musicians you love after they're gone. But instead of re-assessing Cobain's legacy, we're going to acknowledge here that we've never really stopped looking back. We've thought, and written, and said plenty about him in the last 20 years. Here's a taste.